The present application relates to software and more specifically to user interface designs and methods for manipulation of information visualizations, such as tree diagrams.
Information visualization may be any process involving graphically representing data according to a method or scheme. A graphical representation of data, such as a tree diagram, resulting from an information visualization technique, is often called an information visualization, or simply a visualization. Tree diagrams, also called tree graphs, tree visualizations, or simply trees, often depict a hierarchy via plural nodes with one or more paths connecting a node to one or more other nodes arranged at different levels of the tree diagram.
Tree diagrams are employed in various demanding applications, including visualizations of corporate hierarchies (i.e., organizational charts), decision trees for analyzing corporate decision processes and outcomes, visualizations for solving probability problems, visualizations for analyzing computer problems, data structures, computer network structures, and so on. Such applications often demand efficient user interface mechanisms for enabling simultaneous viewing of data or labels presented by tree nodes and the overall tree structure.
Efficient mechanisms for enabling simultaneous viewing of both tree data and tree structure can be particularly important when viewing large tree diagrams. Large tree diagrams may be particularly difficult to efficiently display via relatively small displays of mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.
Conventionally, user interface controls for zooming and panning are employed to facilitate viewing large tree diagrams. However, large tree diagrams may be difficult to view via a given display while also viewing information associated with particular tree nodes.